Searching for Privacy

A little-noticed section of the Stop Online Piracy Act could require deep-packet inspection and blocking IP addresses of copyright-infringing Web sites, a significant change from earlier versions. Read this blog post by Declan McCullagh on Privacy Inc..

A Facebook phone would entwine the social network too deeply into your life, privacy, and everyday tasks. No thank you!

In the crucial 7-year legal battle between a music rights group and an Internet service provider, the European Court of Justice has now delivered an important ruling. Music rights group SABAM wanted ISP Scarlet to spy on its customers and block their communications to stop file-sharing, but the Court decided that would breach privacy and violate the fundamental rights of both the ISP and its subscribers.

Facebook settled with the FTC over "charges that it deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public." Jon Leibowitz, Chairman of the FTC said, "Facebook is obligated to keep the promises about privacy that it makes to its hundreds of millions of users. Facebook's innovation does not have to come at the expense of consumer privacy. The FTC action will ensure it will not."

Sometimes GPS tracking via a mobile phone is beyond an invasion of privacy; it can be a matter of life or death, such as when actionable intelligence from smartphones can potentially cost lives of U.S. combat troops overseas. Michael Yon has been reporting with the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Here's an interview with Yon about the treacherous side of carrying a cell phone, when a smartphone acts like a pocket spy with geo-tracking actionable intelligence.

For all the good it can do, social networking also has its share of downsides. Putting personal information of any kind on the internet raises plenty of privacy concerns on its own, and handing over your username and password can … Continue reading →

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is calling on a developer to provide details of hidden software installed on smartphones that logs numerous details about users' activities. In a letter sent Thursday to Carrier IQ president Larry Lenhart, Franken asked for an explanation of what the company's software records, whether it transmits data to a third party and whether the data presents any security or privacy risks.

For Some, New Google Brain Implants Raise Privacy Concerns

There's a big internal shakeup going on at Facebook. Liz Gannes at AllThingsD got the scoop: the company is reorganizing into key product areas like privacy and communication. A memo describing the changes went out today.

In the continued spotlight on mass surveillance, WikiLeaks Spy Files posted Gamma videos teaching intelligence agencies how to hack iTunes, Gmail and Skype. But Tatiana Lucas, one of the people behind profiting from the secret snoop ISS conferences, wants you to believe that exposing surveillance methods will cost U.S. jobs, make companies hesitant to support government surveillance, and maybe stop Congress from updating a lawful-interception law. Yet this company that profits on mass monitoring fails to mention privacy rights, civil liberties, or human rights.